RPG-a-Day #9: Privilege

This material was cut from Deception, a just-released OGL Modern release from NUELOW Games. It was cut because the editor felt it explained the self-evident. Here's hoping you'll find it interesting enough to check out the product it was cut from.

Basically, Deception contains feats and talent trees for characters belonging to the privileged elite in our society--or those with the skills and daring to pass themselves off as belonging among them. 

Feat Synergies

The true power of this supplement emerges when you combine feats and talents strategically. Individual feats provide solid mechanical benefits, but layering them creates exponential advantages—and exponential risk. Below are the most potent synergies, along with guidance on how they function mechanically.


Synergy 1: False Credentials +Web of Lies
The Combination: False Credentials lets you create forged documents and maintain a false identity. Web of Lies prevents you from contradicting yourself across multiple narratives. Together, they create an identity so seamless that even intensive investigation struggles to find inconsistencies.

How It Works: When you establish a false identity using False Credentials, you gain mechanical protection against Sense Motive checks and investigation attempts targeting inconsistencies in your cover story. Web of Lies ensures that every detail you've established—your background, your motivations, your connections—remains internally consistent across all interactions. If someone cross-references your story with a third party, the details align perfectly.

Mechanical Effect: Gain a +4 bonus to all Bluff checks made to maintain your false identity. Additionally, investigators must succeed on a Gather Information check (DC 20 + your ranks in Bluff) to find any contradictions in your cover story, even if they interview multiple people who've interacted with your false identity.

In Practice: A character creates a false identity as a mid-level insurance adjuster. They forge credentials, establish a work history, and create a believable personal background. When a rival becomes suspicious and begins investigating, they interview the character's "former colleagues" and "previous employers"—all of whom are either fabricated contacts or people the character has already briefed. Every detail aligns. The investigation hits a wall because there's nothing to find. The false identity is airtight.



Synergy 2: Blackmail Material + Puppet Master Talent
The Combination: Blackmail Material gives you leverage over individuals. Puppet Master allows you to remotely manipulate institutions through layers of control. Combined, you can use blackmailed individuals as nodes in a larger network of institutional influence.

How It Works: When you possess blackmail material on someone with institutional access or authority, you can activate them as an asset within your Puppet Master network. They become a remote control point for institutional decisions. Unlike normal Puppet Master assets (which require ongoing relationship maintenance), blackmailed assets remain loyal through coercion rather than favor. They cannot refuse your requests without risking exposure.

Mechanical Effect: Blackmailed individuals can be used as Puppet Master assets without consuming your daily asset activation limit. Additionally, when you activate a blackmailed asset to perform an institutional action, you gain a +2 bonus to the relevant check, and the asset cannot fail or refuse the request (though they may perform it poorly if they're actively hostile).

In Practice: A character has blackmail material on a city councilman—evidence of embezzlement. They activate him as a Puppet Master asset to redirect a zoning investigation away from a warehouse the character controls. The councilman, terrified of exposure, uses his institutional authority to bury the investigation. When another city official becomes suspicious, the character activates a second blackmailed asset—a police captain with a gambling problem—to misdirect the inquiry. Within weeks, the character has built a cascading network of coerced institutional control, each node reinforcing the others.

Synergy 3: Untouchable + Any Deception Feat
The Combination: Untouchable provides mechanical protection from investigation and evidence. When layered with any other deception feat, it becomes insurance that protects your other schemes from unraveling.

How It Works: Untouchable's core benefit is that you gain a +4 bonus to all checks made to avoid investigation and a +2 bonus to all checks made to misdirect blame. When you combine this with other deception feats, you're essentially creating redundant layers of protection. If your False Credentials are discovered, Untouchable helps you misdirect blame. If your Blackmail Material is exposed, Untouchable protects you from the fallout.

Mechanical Effect: When you use Untouchable in conjunction with another deception feat, you can apply Untouchable's bonuses to checks made to protect that feat's benefits. For example, if someone discovers your false credentials, you can use Untouchable to misdirect blame or create plausible deniability. Additionally, once per session, you can retroactively apply Untouchable's protection to a deception scheme that's beginning to unravel, gaining a second chance to avoid investigation.

In Practice: A character's Web of Lies begins to crack when someone notices a contradiction in their cover story. Normally, this would trigger an investigation. But the character activates Untouchable, using its misdirection benefits to suggest that the person who noticed the contradiction is mistaken or deliberately spreading false information. The investigation never materializes. The character's scheme remains intact.



Synergy 4: Silver Tongue + Information Broker Talent
The Combination: Silver Tongue provides bonuses to Bluff and Diplomacy checks. Information Broker allows you to gather, trade, and weaponize intelligence. Together, they make you exceptionally skilled at extracting information from targets.

How It Works: When you use Silver Tongue to build rapport with a target, you gain a +3 bonus to Bluff and Diplomacy checks. Information Broker's core benefit is that you can use Diplomacy checks to extract information that would normally require Gather Information or Investigation checks. Combined, you can charm information out of people who would normally refuse to talk.

Mechanical Effect: When using Silver Tongue in conjunction with Information Broker, you gain a +5 bonus to Diplomacy checks made to extract information. Additionally, targets must succeed on a Will save (DC 15 + your Charisma modifier) to resist sharing information with you, even if they're suspicious of your motives. If they fail, they provide the information you're seeking, though they may realize afterward that they've been manipulated.

In Practice: A character needs to know about a rival's financial situation. They use Silver Tongue to build rapport with the rival's accountant at a social event, then smoothly transition into asking about the rival's recent business dealings. The accountant, charmed and relaxed, shares details they normally wouldn't discuss. By the end of the conversation, the character has extracted sensitive financial information without the accountant realizing they've been manipulated.



Synergy 5: Misdirection + Information Broker Talent
The Combination: Misdirection lets you redirect attention away from suspicious details and toward false leads. Information Broker allows you to gather and weaponize intelligence. Together, they let you steer investigations in directions that benefit you.

How It Works: When you use Misdirection to redirect scrutiny, you're essentially creating a false lead for investigators to follow. Information Broker allows you to plant that false lead strategically, ensuring that investigators waste time chasing information you've deliberately seeded. This creates a feedback loop where the investigation moves further away from the truth with each step.

Mechanical Effect: When using Misdirection in conjunction with Information Broker, you can plant false information into your Information Broker network, ensuring that investigators who tap into that network receive misleading leads. Investigators must succeed on a Sense Motive check (DC 18 + your ranks in Bluff) to recognize that the information is deliberately planted. Additionally, each false lead you plant adds +1 to the DC of future investigation checks targeting your actual schemes (maximum +5).

In Practice: A character's scheme is beginning to attract investigative attention. They use Misdirection to create a false lead suggesting that a rival is responsible for the scheme. They then use their Information Broker network to seed this false lead into the investigation—a journalist contact publishes a speculative article, a police informant mentions the rival's involvement, a data analyst "discovers" financial connections between the rival and the scheme. The investigation pivots toward the rival. By the time anyone realizes the lead was false, the character has had weeks to cover their tracks.